The climbing of white stones ( About the poetry of Agron Shele) – De klim van witte stenen ( Over de poëzie van Agron Shele) / By Hannie Rouweler

The climbing of white stonesAbout the poetry of Agron Shele
With the English poetry collection “White Stones” Agron Shele has climbed a lot higher on the Olympus. He is almost in the vision of Zeus.
With this boss of all bosses in the world of the gods, we have to be careful a little bit. It is far better to keep some distance to this supreme god and the most important and adored sketch figure on the Olympus.
The god Zeus has nasty and tricky rules and ways, with his sometimes well-intentioned but more often misleading paternalistic attitude. Fortunately, the poet Agron Shele has known this for a long time and is not waiting for his approach or approval.
Zeus keeps watching him at a distance anyway.

In his latest collection of poems, translated very well by Peter Tase, we get a penetrating picture of the poet and his poetics.
In ‘Maybe because that reminds you of the time that has passed/And you feel more older than ever’ (This time): he writes about the past, that sometimes is felt like a heavy stone to carry, and with that the awareness of old age.
‘No dreams, that give you freedom/No tomorrow/but only a dawn related to the shadows of life in chaos’: emphasizes the oppressive atmosphere in which a person can end up when he is trapped, by his environment, or by threatening experiences within himself.
In the entire collection of poems a strong use of language is shown, also knowledge of an extensive idiom. Especially striking imagery and original comparisons regularly cross the path of the reader, who is looking for meaning and interpretation.

He does not shy away from using images that evoke a harsh reality, where reconciliation could be a patch on the wound. However, Shele makes us more acquainted with the raw reality, the hopelessness of situations, in which he and/or his fellow man can get entangled.
“White Stones” is an absolute must for those who like to enjoy excellent language skills and depths.